LCSW, 8 years of experience
New to Grow
My name is Lizzy and I am a clinical social worker based in San Diego but origially from the bay area. I have experience working with children, teens, and adults coping with anxiety, trauma, and gender dysphoria. I have worked in school, community based and hospital-based settings I am strength based, client centered and use a social justice framework. I am personable, down-to-earth, and love to incorporate music and art into therapy.
In your first session we gather information about your current areas of concern, assess circumstances contributing to distress, construct goals for treatment and engage in a safety risk assessment.
I make complex therapeutic skills understandable and digestible I am trained in evidenced based approaches related to anxiety, OCD, gender affirming care, and trauma I am down to earth, warm, and use humor in therapy I love music, art, roller skating and tailor therapy to your interests/culture I don’t prescribe a one size fits all approach and feel it is imperative to acknowledge systems such as inequality, racism, limited access to resources, and discrimination that contribute to mental healh symptoms and distress
I am eager to work with clients that are motivated to work on anxiety, gender dysphoria, and trauma based symptoms. My ideal client in ERP open to therapy and eager to identify fears and engage in challenges toward their anxiety through ERP. My ideal client working on gender dysphoria and trauma expresses willingness to try skills that promote feelings of safety and motivation to connect to community supports such as a support group.
I was formerly trained in ERP working as a therapist in a day treatment center for individuals with anxiety and OCD in San Diego County. Exposure response prevention is a faucet of CBT used to treat anxiety and obsessive-compulsive disorder. In ERP, we work together to identify core fears related to your anxiety then gradually face fears through exposures. For example, if you have a fear of public speaking you will engage in various exercises that illicit that fear such as making eye contact with strangers, speaking to a supportive group, speaking to a larger group, then making a presentation to strangers. ERP helps rewire your brain and alleviates anxiety through experiences.
I have a certificate in Affirming Approaches for Transgender Individuals and Communities from Widener University. I support individuals in exploring gender identity and expression in a nonjudgmental environment. We learn ways to cope with challenging societal expectations related to masculinity and femineity and celebrate your gender identity/expression
I was trained in CPT therapy while working at an intensive outpatient program for active duty, veterans, and civilians coping with PTSD. Cognitive Processing therapy is a CBT modality used to treat trauma. In therapy we work together to identify the story you are telling yourself about your trauma that keeps you stuck in PTSD symptoms. The goal of CPT is to identify and challenge stuck points and create more balance views on traumatic experiences.
I work with individuals from diverse cultural backgrounds and use a social justice framework. I am strengths based, client centered and build an affirming environment for individuals from the LGBTQIA community and communities of color. I strive to acknowledge systems in place that lead to distress and won't give you generic treatment interventions that ignore systematic contributors to suffering such as inequality, discrimination, or limited access to care.